Monday, December 13, 2010

Readers' Theater Thursday!

This Thursday, December 16, at 7:00 p.m. at the Buena Vista Branch, we have the pleasure to once again feature Theatre Encino actors in a readers’ theater presentation. Last year’s offering was Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol; this year they will assay The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, a Sherlock Holmes mystery story set at Christmas-time, involving a ratty bowler hat, a goose, a precious jewel, and some unexpected characters! The story, written by Arthur Conan Doyle, was first published in Strand Magazine in 1892, and appears in a collection of short stories, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Our readers’ theater version is adapted and directed by David Purdham, who will also play Sherlock Holmes.

If you are not sure what to expect, here is an explanation: Readers’ theater is a style of theater in which the actors do not memorize their lines. They sit and stand together on a stage and read from scripts. The actors use vocal expression to help the audience understand the story, rather than employing visual storytelling cues such as sets, costumes, and blocking. The advantage to readers’ theater is that it can create images by suggestion that could never actually be portrayed on stage, freeing both the performers and the audience from the physical limitations of conventional theater.In addition to the actors from Theatre Encino, five teens have roles in this production; they are members of Burbank Public Library’s teen book clubs, and we are so excited about their participation! Please join us for readers’ theater and festive holiday refreshments on Thursday night!